Metro Manila, Visayas, Davao found with busiest airports

Subscribe Now July 05, 2012 at 08:15am

HE COUNTRY’S busiest airports can be found in Metro Manila, Western and Central Visayas, as well as Davao Region, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said in the “Sexy Statistics” posted on its Web site last June 29. An aviation official, however, said the National Capital Region’s (NCR) share -- averaging 19.4 million or 62.2% of the country’s commercial air passenger traffic from 2001 to 2011 -- could drop as the government pushes flights to other international airports. For 2011 alone, Metro Manila had 29.8 million air passengers, accounting for some 57.2% of the total.

The next busiest airports in terms of average passenger traffic in the same 11 years were Central Visayas, Western Visayas and Davao Region which accounted for 11.5% (3.6 million), 9.1% (2.8 million) and 5.1% (1.6 million), respectively.

In the same 11 years, passenger traffic was lightest in airports of the Cordillera Administrative Region (just 11,459 or 0.0%), Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (17,363 or 0.1%), Cagayan Valley (93,593 or 0.03%), Soccsksargen (122,376 or 0.4%), Ilocos Region (157,262 or 0.5%) and Central Luzon (164,424, also 0.5%).

Air passenger traffic nationwide increased by an average of 10.1% annually from 2001 to 2011.

Noting Metro Manila’s heavy air passenger traffic, NSCB suggested in the report that it is “very important therefore to improve the quality of services and decongest or possibly relocate NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) to ensure on-time departures.”

Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo A. Arcilla said in a telephone interview that Metro Manila’s share may decline as the government’s “pocket open skies” policy of promoting flights to international airports outside the capital gains ground. “There is a tendency for the numbers in Manila to decline because the policy now on aviation is to develop secondary gateways and the government is successful in doing that. We have stimulated traffic in Cebu, Davao and Clark.”